First training toss.

Took so long to catch them only took half. 1 loft. 20 miles, strong wind 50 kph. Side wind. 13 came then 5 minutes later 12. Overflew a little. Reasonable time. Pulled in to driveway and this coon was in the tree.

Nice 1 Hal, that's the hard one out of the way.

well done hal, onwards and upwards eh........

do the "coons" bother the pigeons...?

sounds good hal for 1st toss

Coons kill and eat pigeons, chickens and anything else they can catch. Smart buggers. Can manipulate doors to get them open. Fortunately, they get in kill one then sit and eat it. Usually will come the next night if not caught.

halcanada wrote:

Took so long to catch them only took half. 1 loft. 20 miles, strong wind 50 kph. Side wind. 13 came then 5 minutes later 12. Overflew a little. Reasonable time. Pulled in to driveway and this coon was in the tree.

Unknown factor out of the way I would say Hal . Less stress next time around etc I suspect.

Coon was not up there after I walked the dogs. Would have shot him but too close to highway.
Most of the birds trained today were yearlings never raced but trained last year. The other loft has 2 year old's that were raced. Weather forecast is for thunderstorms tomorrow. Other loft 12 x 6 ( was 8 x 6 ) is easy loading. 20 plus in there.
If I think I can get an hour clear in the weather will train them. Otherwise, will be Friday.

Weather did not clear. Heavy thunderstorms. Strong winds. 60 plus k. So open loft. They flew in it on and off. Tomorrow take them from loft 2. 20 miles. Maybe 40 as the days following have bad weather predicted. No matter they will have to go regardless. Cannot coddle them. Not throwing them away. But have found that the more adversity a pigeon (or human ) faces the stronger they become. Set up for loft 1 to be hatching eggs around the time of the 1st race just over a week from now. Weather does not look good but hope they do not cancel the race. Forecast may change.

40 plus kmh head wind. 20 miles. 50 mins 1st 6.
26 from 28.

All back. They had to work today. Forecast for May 6 not good. Whatever. Cannot change the weather. The first birds back, 7 of them were led by a mealy cock. 3 year old now. Never raced as a young bird. I assume he will be my top pigeon this year. 10069 his band.

Hal - are raccoons a problem to or for the pigeons?

Phil

Yes!! They are very clever getting in to buildings. Fortunately if they get in they just kill one and proceed to eat it. Then return the next night for another unless caught. Have traps out for them now, as per usual. They are feeding young about this time. Fly bait mixed with Coke knocks them off fast.